Discuss your approach to completing this Hands-on Assignment. (1) In general terms, what is the investment that was made? (2) In general terms, what is the return that the organization will receive from that investment? (3) How do different assumptions about network usage affect ROI? Do they affect the cost of the investment or the amount of the return?
(1) In general terms, what is the investment that was made?
Generally, the investment that is being made is an upgrade from 10Base-T to a 1000Base-T standard by implementing a new layout for Constant Hall’s network. This takes the form of new dedicated rooms, an extended star topology for switches, category 6A cabling, and new materials to adjust to the scale needed for the upgrade. However, the cost for this implementation is estimated to be around $19,571.10.
(2) In general terms, what is the return that the organization will receive from that investment?
The return from this investment will include significantly faster network performance, reduction in latency, and the potential for more numerical growth regarding more staff and students with the capability for more amounts of traffic to take place at any one period. The upgrade will also grant access to more powerful applications as well as reduce the amount of maintenance fixes that would need to occur compared to the legacy standard.
(3) How do different assumptions about network usage affect ROI? Do they affect the cost of the investment or the amount of the return?Multiple assumptions about network usage can affect the ROI, such as the number of users, the maximum and minimum range of traffic, and the kinds of applications that are used and their required usage cost. The amount of return can be significantly affected but is dependent on comparing the original network to the new one and making a proper judgement on whether the upgrade is worthwhile. If the current legacy network is not able to meet the demands of students and staff, then the ROI from an upgraded network will be beneficial by being able to provide faster speeds and reduce the maintenance required for having a legacy network in the current day. However, if the legacy network can handle the current amount of traffic fine and the cost for current maintenance is proportional, then there would not be a need to upgrade for a small amount of ROI. Regarding the cost of investment, it is less affected compared to the saved costs from the upgrade due to the initial costs being fixed but proportional to the required materials. The initial costs should still be considered with ROI, but the estimated numbers for the people who can utilize the new network are the more prominent factor.